Concertina and accordion operation



Oct. 20, 1936. o. HEIM CONCERTI-NA AND ACCORDION OPERATION Filed Dec. 11, 1934 w I v INVENTOR 05 Cd r He 111 BY ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 20, 1936 UNITED STATES CONCERTINA AND ACCORDION OPERATION Oscar Heim,

Jamaica, N. Y.

Application December 11, 1934, Serial No. 756,924

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in musical instruments, particularly portable and stationary reed instruments, as for instance reed organs, concertinas, and pedal or otherwise operated piano-accordions.

In the known musical instruments of this type a momentary pause or silence will be experienced when during playing the contracted bellows is about to be expanded, and it is the principal object of my invention to avoid or bridge over this silent interval by the provision of novel and improved means including an elastic air chamber and shutter valve causing the air to pass the reed blocks in one direction and thus needing only one set of reeds unleathered, instead of the customary two leathered sets.

By this arrangement, I achieve the following advantages:

1. It is possible to play forte with one hand, and simultaneously, piano with the other hand.

2. One hand may start a piano passage and then go into crescendo, while simultaneously the other hand goes through the same passages in an inversed order, and this can be done without the use of registers or stops.

3. In a reed instrument a very true tremolo may be produced by my improvement by means of the feet which closely resembles the tremolo produced by the players of string instruments in the orchestra. To produce a tremolo with my device, the heel, which according to my invention is strapped to the end of the pedal, shakes or trembles while the toes support the weight of the leg. It will be clear that when playing ordinary music no use need to be made of the pedal straps.

4. My improved air distributing and regulating means when installed into organs will make it possible to perform sharp rhythmical music (as for instance marches, etc), which heretofore has not been possible and presented an imperfection which inventors frequently have tried to overcome, however so far without success.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an elastic air chamber and shutter valve in accordions having a common central bellows as for instance the piano accordion, and of compartments feeding air through the valve as long as the bellows is pressed and others of similar construction to feed air as long as the bellows is pulled.

A further object of my invention is the provision of intermediary walls in an accordion provided with upper and lower means to hold these walls apart.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of means for anchoring the middle of the lower part of the accordion or the like to allow its convenient holding between the legs of the player or acting as a stand, while a chin holder may be provided at the opposite end of the instrument.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will become more fully known as the description thereof proceeds, and will then be more specifically defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 illustrates diagrammatically, partly in section, the active parts of a reed instrument, equipped with an air regulating device constructed accordingto my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view of the active parts of an accordion with a common central bellows as for instance an accordion constructed according to my invention.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the usual key-board ID of a red instrument having the usual buttons ll holding in their upper position the valves 12 closed which are connected by bars I3 to the respective keys and are adapted to close the openings leading from the reed housings l4.

Air chambers A and B are provided in the frame l5 of the instrument, and in chamber B an elastic partition I6 is provided forming one wall of chamber 13 which is kept expanded or extended by means of compression spring H to maintain auxiliary air pressure in chamber A from bellows C and D through the valve-con- 3 trolled openings 3|, 33 in the bottom of chamber A from which the air is supplied to chamber B through a shutter-controlled opening 42, as will hereafter more fully be described, during short stops in the air supply from the bellows, which are divided by a partition l8 into upper parts C and lower parts D. 4

The air intake for bellows C is controlled by a valve IS.

The bellows are operated by means of a rod 20, the upper end of which is connected by means of a joint 2| to a bracket 22, attached to the lower face of partition l8, while the lower end of rod 20 is pivotally connected to pedal 23.

Pedal 23 is turning about crossbar 24 having wound thereabout a tension spring not shown, as it is encased in housing 25 compensating the weight of midportion of bellows, while a bracket 26 supporting rod 24 on the leg 21 of the instrument, and leather or similar straps 28, 29

serve to hold the feet firmly down secure against slipping, particularly when tremolating.

The air intake valve for bellows D is designated 3|], while the air discharge valve from bellows C is shown at 3| and an air channel marked 32 which is supplied with air from bellows D through an opening 32 in partition l8 and valve 33 control the discharge of air from bellows D through opening 32 in partition l8 and channel 32 into chamber A.

In chamber A, a rigid, frame 34 is pivoted at 35 and a hand lever 36 is connected to frame 34 by means of curved member 31 attached to the corners of frame 34 and is held up by means of an encased tension spring 35, and to member 34 is suitably attached or made integrally therewith a hook 38 engaging pins projecting from shutter 39 to be operated by lever 36 and pivoted at 40 to a partition wall 4| having openings 42, 43, while a compression spring 44 wound about a headed pin 45 pulls the shutter towards the partition wall, while the shutter controls the flow of air from chamber A to B or vice versa when upon the operation of lever 35 its hook 38 imparts to the shutter one quarter revolution, each successive quarter turn opening and closing the two openings 42, 43 alternately.

As shown in Figure 3 in which the principles of my invention are shown as applied to bellowsaccordions or other instruments having a common central bellows, as for instance the piano accordion, detachable bars 58, one on each side of the bellows-accordions hold the partition walls 44', 45 and bars 44" hold partition walls 46, 41 respectively apart.

An elastic air chamber 48 similar to the chamber l6, Figure l, is suitably arranged on the accordion for instance as shown, while 49 designates the shutter regulation operating substantially in the same manner as described with respect to shutter 39, above.

The space for air intake is designated 50 and may extend clear through the bellows and is open to all sides.

Compartments 52 feed the air through valve 53 as long as the bellows is compressed, while compartment 54 feeds the air through valve 54 as long as bellows is pulled.

55 designates the valve controlling air intake for chambers 5|, 52 and valve 56 designates the control for the air intake for compartment 54.

The central part of the instrument is anchored to a device 51 having substantially the shape of a frame equipped with braced legs, as shown in Figure 3 which is to be held between the legs of the player and serves also as a stand or support.

In operation, upon the depression of pedal 23, partition I8 is drawn down and air pressure is created in bellows D, which is released by valve 33, while the air pressure in bellows C is rarified causing valve l9 to admit air into C. During the interval between the contraction of the bellows and their expansion a momentary silence will ensue. This silent period is bridged over by my novel construction through the operation of the elastic wall N5 of air chamber 13 of very thin material while the shutter is open into chamber B, so that the air will pass through the shutter openings, 42, 43, a momentary depression of lever 36 during playing will, by the intermediary of its member 31 and hook 38 turn the shutter for one quarter revolution.

Upon the compression of the bellows C, D, air is either supplied to chamber A by valve 33 or 3|.

This same air pressure will prevail in chamber B and compress the auxiliary bellows or elastic chamber partly.

As soon as the direction of bellows movement in C, D, changes no air is supplied through valves 33 and 3|, the auxiliary chamber having been previously partly compressed will expand again and supply air through openings 42, 43 as the shutter is now in a position to give these openings free to chamber A and this air will bridge the interval.

Upon the release of lever 36. the lever will au tomatically be returned by the spring 44 leaving the shutter open. It will be clear that this operation will require a very short time and will not interrupt the playing fingers. The lever is pressed once at the beginning of a tremolo and again at the end of a tremolo. The lever is not used in music that contains no tremolo.

It will be clear that in order to produce a true tremolo by means of the feet operating pedal 23, the feet are engaged in the straps 28, 29 and the tremolo is produced by a suitable trembling or shaking motion of the heel of the player.

If installed in an accordion as illustrated in Figure 3, the silent intervals between contraction and expansion of the bellows are similarly bridged over automatically by the elastic air chamber 48 and shutter regulator 49.

It will be understood that I have disclosed the preferred form of my invention as one example only of the many possible ways to practically construct the same and that I may make such changes in its general arrangement and in the construction of its minor details as come within the scope of the appended claims without departure from the spirit of my invention and the principles involved.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A reed instrument comprising in addition to its bellows, an elastic air chamber to supply the reed chamber with air during silent intervals while the bellows is beginning to expand and to contract, a shutter, a frame to operate said shutter, a lever connected to said frame to operate the same, means connecting said shutter with said lever to operate the shutter to admit wind to the reed chamber in the quantity required to bridge the silent interval, and means to return the shutter in its position of rest after each operation of the lever.

2. In accordions including a reservoir or auxiliary bellows to receive air from the accordion bellows and to store the same, an air chamber to receive air from two superposed bellows separated by a perforated partition, said bellows in communication with the said air chamber, a partition wall separating the air chamber and the air storage chamber in which said auxiliary bel lows is located, said partition wall having openings, a shutter pivoted to said partition wall controlling the flow of air from said air chamber to said storage chamber, pins on said shutter, and a lever operated member engaging said pins to impart to said shutter successive rotary movements to cover and uncover said openings for supplying said storage chamber with air from the bellows, and means for operating said lever to turn said shutter to establish a communication between said storage chamber and the air chamber in which the reeds are located to bridge the silent intervals between contraction and expansion of the bellows.

OSCAR HEIM. 

